Suped Up: He Will Be My Ruin by K.A. Tucker

On the surface, Celine Gonzalez had everything a twenty-eight-year-old woman could want: a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a job that (mostly) paid the bills, and an acceptance letter to the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where she would finally live out her dream of becoming an antiques appraiser for a major auction house. All she had worked so hard to achieve was finally within her reach. So why would she kill herself?

A man who was supposed to be her salvation . . .

Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a lethal cocktail of pills and vodka, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers a scandalous photograph in a lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man Celine believed would change her life.

Until he became her ruin.

On the hunt for evidence that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer. A killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered.

Yet another successful author cherry pop! Yes, I'm kicking myself for not reading K.A. Tucker sooner. And yes, I'll be reading more of her books moving forward. HE WILL BE MY RUIN is so devious, thrilling, and a total page turner for sure! I'm sure you've read a lot of advance reviews at this point so I'll save you some time and redundant fangirling, and just share why I absolutely love this murder-mystery thriller.

I'm a fan of diaries penned by some dead person especially if said person has been murdered and has a secret life. Such delicious secrets, Celine Gonzales has, whatever Maggie Sparkes knows about her childhood friend/surrogate sister turned to dust once she got ahold of Celine's journals. Nothing jaw-dropping, at least for me, Maggie's reaction drew me into the story. So many questions, so many what-ifs, missed opportunities, a lot of guilty feelings, Maggie went through all the stages of grief and then some. After all's been said and done, Maggie's loyalty to Celine prevailed and this sororal love is what drove Maggie to dive deeper and exhaust every possible avenue and resource she has to prove that Celine didn't commit suicide rather she killed herself.

I love the guesswork in HE WILL BE MY RUIN, then again I've never been really good at solving murder mysteries so needless to say, my brain is tickled all throughout the novel. Even after Celine's secret life was revealed, I was still left wondering what the motive was and who the killer is. It was quite the twist, I wouldn't have guessed that it was enough to warrant someone to kill another human being. But then again, stranger things have happened so it's not as far-fetched as I thought it would be. As for the perpetrator, oh but he (clue!) is so close yet felt so far. Tucker hid this person in plain sight. I know some readers guessed right, I guessed wrong which made the big reveal even more surprising and nerve wracking.

HE WILL BE MY RUIN is a definite must-read for fans of this genre. You will not be disappointed.

I have to try her out too. The delicious secrets are definitely a strong draw :) Not to mention the fact that no matter who reviews her, the praise scarcely changes... Plus, you can't not love a good mystery :D Hugs

I'm currently reading her ten tiny breaths series and so far so good. I didn't love the first one, but as I read the series I'm slowly starting to get hooked. I'm not sure what book but I think I've read a blurb similar to this one, though this one sounds more intriguing and it's piquing my curiosity more.

Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed your first K.A Tucker, Braine. I thought this wasn't her strongest book because I struggled with Maggie a bit and I thought the mystery was predictable but I liked the writing quite a bit. I'm curious to see if this is going to be a series!Great review!

Maggie is a great narrator, she reflected my curiosity of Celine's life and death to a tee. Plus she's smart and didn't suffer from TSTL. As for the mystery, I suck at predicting shit so I guess I'm the best reader for this series. I always get surprised hahaha

Hahaha, it's morbid and fascinating. They confess and don't really need to apologize or feel ashamed of it because they're gone and whatever transgression is almost always forgiven because they're dead.

I'm going to have to pop my KA Tucker cherry too, Braine! I've been meaning to read her and this makes like 5 gushing reviews of HWBMR I've read. I'm gonna do it! And I'm so happy you enjoyed the experience. ;)

Everyone is raving about this one. I grabbed a copy last week, and I am hoping to get to it this weekend, after I go through a couple of other ARCS. I am not a big NA reader, but I did like her Burying Water series.

Okay, I'm going to add this to my TBR list. I haven't been reading/listening to enough Thriller/Suspense stories lately. I trust your judgement and this looks great. I checked the audio. I'm not familiar with the narrators, but will probably try it out that way first anyway. :-) Great review.

I've only read the first three Burying Water books by this author, but I really enjoyed that series so far. I am tempted to give this book a try, but not 100% sure yet. I am really enjoying murder mysteries lately, so I think I would enjoy that part. I like it when the mystery keeps me guessing. Great review!

Awesome review, Braine, and I'm so, so happy you loved this as much as I did. I enjoyed that I kept guessing, and I think I suspected more or less every single character, at least for a while :)Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews